AGRICULTURAL RELIEF

121
Mr. Joxes. Including the machinery for carrying out the policy——

Mr. Taper. I want to say, sir, if it will give the slightest bit of
strength to change the chairman’s declaration of policy for ours, and
it means the same thing, we have no pride of authorship.

The CmarrmaN. Are you for those very things? If you are for
them, I would like to know. And why you left them out. I pre-
sume there is some reason for that ?

Mr. Taser. The reason is we could not include all that is good in
our policy.

The CHARMAN, It is the all-important part, and there is where we
have our trouble over that one thing. It will interfere with the op-
erations of some gentlemen in certain cities in certain parts of the
country; and I think if the provisions referred to were eliminated
from my bill we would have no trouble about the equalization fee. But
those two little sentences have made us all the trouble; and, to be
perfectly frank, the question is: Shall the farmers control the market-
ing of agricultural commodities? Shall they market them in the way
that will give them the benefits of laws already established? You
propose to give them a subsidy. The farmers say, “ No; we will pay
our own bills and make money by doing so.” Are you for the elimi-
nation of speculation and waste ?

Mr. Taser. We are for the elimination of speculation and waste
whenever the machinery can be provided to do it.

The Cuairman. Oh, well. we have the machinery. We set it up.

Mr. Taser. I doubt, Mr. Chairman, that your machinery will do it.

The Cuamryrax. The machinery is there. It is just a question,
are you for or against speculation and waste? If you are not for it
I assume you are against it. You understand the language in the
bill—the language in your own bill.

Mr. Taper. I understand the bill, and we submit again we will
be delighted to have the chairman rewrite the declaration of the
policy of Congress if he can state it move clearly than we have in our
bill.

The Crmarrmax. It is just a question of what the policy shall be.
We can write it after we determine what the policy shall be.

Mr. Taper. Our program, as we have indicated over and over
again, is without the equalization fee.

The Crarman. Is it your policy that the speculation and the
waste shall go on or shall it be eliminated ?

Mr. Taser. Our policy in this bill is not to cure all the ills of
agriculiure, but to cure the ill of price inequality bv the export
debenture rather than by an excise tax.

The CmamrMaN. Are we agreed now to the alleced economic de-
pression in agriculture?

Mr. Taser. We are.

The Crarmax. Now, then, are you for full farm relief or just
part relief; to give them a little money by taking the money out
of the Treasury before it is put in the Treasury in payment of
the proposed subsidy?

Mr. TaBer. We are for the most certain relief known.

The Cuairman. Let us analyze the two bills. We will assume
the wheat sold to be 800,000,000 bushels. Under your plan for the
200,000,000 exported the farmers should receive $42.000.000. at the
expense of the Government